[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Carla Burke, the bookkeeper for the Anderson Community School Corporation Food Service Department, was sentenced to 28 months in prison for falsifying tax documents and wire fraud.
Burke was responsible for maintaining the financial records, bank account, and vendor invoices for the Department, and generating payments to vendors. From 2014 to 2019, she issued company checks to herself and then cashed them at her personal bank. She covered her tracks by recording the payee as a vendor, rather than herself, and used the money for her personal use, including gambling.
Burke lied to federal agents when they began investigating her, and did not report $225,381 in income derived from the stolen checks on five years of tax returns.
The scheme was uncovered during a routine audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts, when they discovered missing documentation. In total, Burke wrote 312 fraudulent checks to herself totaling $976,773.29.
In addition to the prison sentence, Burke was ordered to pay $976,772.39 in restitution to Anderson Community School Corporation and $141,190 to the IRS[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][us_image image=”1341″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
